Lois Bewley

Lois Eleanor Bewley (October 19, 1934 – November 21, 2012) was an American dancer, choreographer, and designer whose career spanned Broadway, ballet, opera, and the visual arts. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, she graduated from Atherton High School before relocating to New York at age 17. After a brief return to Kentucky and a year at the University of Louisville, she settled permanently in New York, where she studied at the School of American Ballet under instructors that included Muriel Stuart.

Bewley began her professional performing career as a soloist with the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo, a position she held from approximately 1955 to 1957. She subsequently toured Europe with the American Ballet Theatre, then worked in 1958 with the touring company of Alicia Markova and with Jerome Robbins's Ballets USA. Her Broadway appearances spanned 1954 to 1962 and included the musicals New Faces of 1943, Hit-the-Trail-Holiday, and First Impressions, the last of which she performed in 1959.

In 1960, Bewley joined the New York City Ballet, where she performed works by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She earned particular recognition for her performances in Todd Bolender's comic ballets Creation of the World and Souvenirs. That same year, she performed at the Pablo Casals Festival in Puerto Rico as part of a trio of New York City Ballet dancers that included William Carter and Charles Bennett. The three, joined by Nadine Ravine, went on to co-found the First Chamber Dance Quartet, an ensemble focused on works created by its own members.

Among Bewley's earliest choreographic works was Pi R Squared, a 1961 piece that parodied the choreographic style of George Balanchine and drew favorable attention in New York. Dance critic Allen Hughes described it as "brief but devastating." She ultimately choreographed 14 ballets for the First Chamber Dance Quartet, including Part II, a 1964 sequel to Pi R Squared. Her 1968 work Visions Fugitives, set to music by Sergei Prokofiev, consisted of a series of short skits. New York Times critic Anna Kisselgoff wrote in 1976 that Bewley "might be regarded as one of dance's finest comediennes," a reputation that earned her the informal designation "clown princess of dance."

Bewley's work extended into opera and design. In 1972, she directed the U.S. premiere of Carl Nielsen's opera Maskarade for the St. Paul Opera, also serving as choreographer, costume designer, and performer in the production. That same year, she designed costumes for the Joffrey Ballet's production of Léonide Massine's Le Beau Danube. In 1973, her ballet Children of Darkness, based on Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, premiered with the Pennsylvania Ballet. Bewley choreographed the work, designed both the sets and costumes, and performed the lead role of Catherine; her own photographs of the Yorkshire moors were incorporated into the set design.

By the mid-1970s, Bewley had begun presenting solo recitals in New York. A performance at the 92nd Street Y titled The Return of Lois Bewley featured music by Leon Kirchner and Frederick Jacobi and comprised ten separate ballets of her own design. Following her retirement from ballet in 1980, she turned to designing streetwear and creating pastel portraits of pets. Bewley died of a stroke on November 21, 2012, in Manhattan.